The Long Way Down Quotes

“At a distance, they looked just boring enough to be important.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“You have to excuse the girls,” Nicky said. “They’re a little, uh—” “Sociopathic?” I offered. “I was gonna say high-spirited, but sure, that works too.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“I’ve always felt that the mark of a man is his willingness to fight for his principles. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose. It doesn’t matter if you ever had a chance to win in the first place. Even if the deck is rigged and the game’s against you, you keep fighting until the bitter end.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“You don’t rut with a pride demon; you hold up a mirror for him to stare into while he pleasures himself. I’m only slightly exaggerating.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“She pointed at our hands. “Are you two rutting?” “That is so gross.” Justine stood next to her with her mouth agape. “You are so gross.” “No,” Caitlin said, grinning. “We’re holding hands. What I did with your father, that was rutting.” Justine made a strangled squeaking noise, like a cat had lodged in her throat and was trying to kick its way out. Juliette stammered incoherently as she dragged her sister away by the arm. I let go of Caitlin’s hand just long enough to hold up my open palm. “High-five me.” She slapped her palm against mine. We settled into a comfortable silence. “You didn’t actually—” I eventually asked, and Caitlin arched an eyebrow. “They’ll always wonder,” she said. “I do hope you’re not the jealous type, Daniel. I am a succubus. If you want me to list my lovers, we’re going to be here a while.” I shook my head. “Not even a little bit.” “Good. But for the record? Never. You don’t rut with a pride demon; you hold up a mirror for him to stare into while he pleasures himself. I’m only slightly exaggerating.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“But it’s not about violence; it’s about doing what you can, whenever you can, to stand up for what you believe. You fight and you never, ever give up. That’s what makes a man.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“You forgot your line, by the way.” “What line?” Meadow demanded. “When you rant about your master plan for world domination, you’re supposed to end with ‘but it’s too bad you won’t live to see it.’ I mean, if you’re gonna act like an asshole pulp villain, at least show some commitment to the part.” Her hands curled at her sides. “Funny. You won’t be laughing when—” I leveled the shotgun and blew her head off.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“In a week marred by death and pain, I’d found a single red rose growing in the ruins. I’d take the thorns as they came.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“They were the gangster version of the guards at Buckingham Palace.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Everyone,” Caitlin said, cradling her wine glass, “is the hero of his own story. That goes double for fanatics. Some of the greatest horrors in history were perpetrated by people who insisted, all the way to damnation’s door, that they fought on the side of the angels.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“it’s about doing what you can, whenever you can, to stand up for what you believe. You fight and you never, ever give up. That’s what makes a man.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“The key to walking around places where you’re not supposed to be is to look like you’re too important to be interrupted. Most people are non-confrontational by nature, and if you give them a good reason not to challenge you, they won’t. I”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Of course, the best lies are always wrapped in verifiable truth. It makes the filling easier to swallow.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“There are two answers to evil,” she said. “The first is to justify it. The evil that you do is for a good cause, you’ll be validated in the end, it needed to be done, etcetera, etcetera. Of course, once you start walking that road, it’s all downhill. I’m sure this Tony person didn’t start by drowning children. You have to work your way up to that kind of atrocity.” “And the second answer?” “You own it. Be truthful and accept your own nature.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Hope for the best, plan for the worst,”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“My guys saw you on Fremont last week, Dan. You know what they saw you doing?” “Their mothers?” I replied. “Funny,” he said and turned back to Juliette.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“It’s your choice,” Caitlin said, “but think on this. Life goes on. She may not be…happy where she goes, but situations change. There’s a spark of hope even in the blackest darkness, the hope that someday, somehow, things can get better. If you leave her like this, that hope is gone. She will spend her eternity frozen. Stagnant. Hopeless.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“It must not be denied that I am a plain-dealing villain,’” I quoted. Caitlin beamed. “You know the Bard! ‘If I had my mouth, I would bite; if I had my liberty, I would do my liking. In the meantime, let me be that I am, and seek not to alter me.’” “I”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“It’s easy to tell stories about the people we leave behind, turn them into monsters in our heads, you know, so the loss doesn’t hurt so much.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Number one—you pissed me off. Number two—the inside of my mind is a seriously fucked-up place, and I’ve got home court advantage.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Mama. I’m fucked up. Don’t know…some kind of curse. Never seen it before.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Pizza and beer,” Corman said. “And if you want something with weird toppings, you’re paying for it yourself. No goddamn pineapple this time.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“I thought she was the one. I mean, you always think that, but…I really believed it. Wedding bells, white picket fences, the real deal. Then one night the dream just died on me.” I paused, shaking my head. “I’m sad right now, and that’s okay. If I’m not sad I start getting angry, and I don’t want to be angry at her. I don’t want to twist it around in my head, change what we had into something ugly, you know? I owe her that much.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“The fifth rule of magic, and my personal favorite: always make a dramatic exit.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Rule number four of magic, the one that any responsible teacher drums into their students’ heads until it’s as second nature as breathing, is you do not fuck with demons.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Third rule of magic: there is no such thing as a coincidence”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Some of the greatest horrors in history were perpetrated by people who insisted, all the way to damnation’s door, that they fought on the side of the angels.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“People go, but they stay,” I said, tapping my forehead, “up here. The hard part’s learning to move on, to let it all go instead of wallowing in regrets”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Magic is not, as a general rule, the healthiest of passions or the gentlest of muses.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“hit me with eighty thousand volts of electricity. Every muscle in my body went rigid, and I flopped like a fish on the pavement, hitting”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down